A no-picture day

Apr. 25

◦                Finally got out of bed about 4:50, got myself ready and packed, ate some corn flakes and yogurt just to have something in my stomach for the trip, helped a bit with lunches and things in the bach. We left the bach around 5:55, which wasn't bad, all things considered. We got to the combi place a couple of minutes after 6:00, beating Olinda and Celmira there. :-)

◦                The trip from Chota to Jaén was interesting. No part of the road was paved until the last stretch, so the first four hours at least were quite jouncy. I didn't take a single picture because the windows were too dirty. There were landslides all along the route; it almost seemed like it was just one big landslide the whole way. Not too far into the trip, there were a couple of small rocks blocking the way, and we were kind of in a hurry to get past as more were coming down the mountain, so one passenger jumped out and moved the rocks while we sailed past and waited for him "on the other side of danger." In another spot, near the end of the trip, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the road to be cleared from another slide, but nothing major. All in all, an interesting though uneventful trip. I noticed a couple of interesting road signs along the way. 1) "Zona de derrumbes" (Landslide zone) I would definitely say that if you have your eyes open, you could probably figure that out right now without the sign. (I do realize that the sign is there on a more permanent basis.) 2) "Un solo carril" (One lane road) It seemed to me that most of the route could have fit into this category, but when we met an oncoming vehicle, we were generally able to pass each other without problem. However, when they advise that there's only one lane, they mean it! 3) "No adelantar" (No passing) This sign seems to be optional. 4) "Tocar claxón" (Honk) This was the first time I had ever seen a sign ordering a driver to honk his horn, but I definitely see the reasoning behind it. Blind curves, curves following curves, curving curves, etc. - It all makes a good honk now and again seem like a really good idea. 5) "Respete los linderos de la cantera." (Respect the quarry boundaries, aka the drop-offs into the abyss) Oh, believe me, I definitely will and do!  6) This was not a road sign, but... I've seen many Night Clubs in Ecuador, even a Naigh Club in Ipiales, Colombia, but outside of Jaén, I passed by my first Night Clud.

◦                We (Héctor, Jairo, Olinda, Celmira, Elvia and I) arrived at the bach in Jaén a little before noon. Palmira was waiting for us along with one of the local friends. Lunch was spaghetti and salad - a nice change.

◦                After lunch was laundry, nap, hair washing, repacking, working with my pictures, etc. Jairo and I went in to the center to return (as it turned out) the USB adaptor for my iPad that he had kindly purchased earlier and to get more megas (cellular data) for my phone.

◦                We had chicken and leftover salad for supper.

◦                A couple of hymns before leaving for the bus terminal at 8:30 p.m.

◦                Our tickets were for 9:00, but apparently because there were no other passengers waiting to get on the bus in Jaén and no one (or very few) needing to get off there, the bus did not come in to the terminal. Rather the ticket lady and her husband (I presume) took us to another little town side 20 minutes away to catch the bus when it passed through there. We waited there for another while, and when the bus finally came, it decided to park there for a while longer. By the time we finally got underway, it was 10:00 pm.

◦                Our bus, I must confess, was nothing special. My seat was less than cushiony, there was no leg room, especially with my backpack at my feet, and my one arm rest was not screwed on tightly, making it rather impossible to lean on with any degree of confidence or stability. The roads, of course, do not straighten out at night, which is one reason a stable arm rest on the aisle side would have come in quite handy, but you can't have everything! It seemed like at every little whipstitch they were turning on the overhead lights so someone could get on or off or enlightened or something. I considered it rather rude! The man in front of Olinda and me kept getting phone calls, and he didn't seem to consider the option of turning his ring tone to vibrate or his voice tone to slightly quieter. Not ideal conditions for an overnight bus trip perhaps, but we all survived.